More Than Just a Title
by lildaemon
Summary: Detective Ema Skye was always so focused on her scientific investigations that it was easy for Prosecutor Klavier Gavin to forget that beneath it all, she was still a member of the police force. Post AJ. Two-shot.
1. Part I

The silence in the underground parking lot of the local Prosecutor's Office was shattered as a gaudy purple motorcycle sped through the narrow driveways before smoothly gliding into its reserved spot next to the elevators.

After removing the key in the ignition, a young man slipped the heart shaped ring into his pocket before gracefully disembarking the vehicle. The rider's helmet was then removed to reveal perfectly styled blonde hair framing a conventionally handsome face. As he strutted towards the elevator doors, the large "G" shaped ornament around his neck flashed in the dim lighting, almost as if announcing his presence.

Not that it was necessary – a lone woman stood by the door, silently awaiting his arrival. Upon his approach, she gave him a greeting worthy of his revered title.

"Took you long enough, fop!"

Rock star-prosecutor, Klavier Gavin graciously accepted her acknowledgement, "My, my, it is certainly a pleasant surprise to see my lovely Fraulein Detective so early in the morning."

Not appearing the least bit pleased nor surprised to see him, Detective Ema Skye's response was as sharp as the look she gave him, "It's already past 9am. If you'd arrived any later, you'll be walking into the trial after verdict's been declared."

"I see your gusto is in full throttle again this morning."

"And I see yours has yet to start."

The odd pair synchronously stepped into the elevator all the while maintaining their usual banter.

"Ah, how I very much enjoy starting my day with you, Fraulein Detective."

"Good morning to you too, Prosecutor Gavin."

The two exchanged polite smiles as the doors slid shut. This was a typical start for the prosecutor-detective team, albeit on days where they had trials, the two of them usually met at the courthouse, rather than in his office. More out of boredom than curiosity, Klavier casually pointed out the unforeseen change in plans. He became somewhat concerned when Ema remained silent in response to his observation. Not one to overlook anything unexpected, Klavier pursued the matter.

"Is there a reason you are so eager to see me that you came greet me the moment I arrived in the building?" He tried to mask his unease with his playful demeanour.

"I am _not _eager to see you," was her resolute answer.

Though it was a typical response from the grumpy detective, Klavier didn't miss the fact that she had completely evaded his question.

His tone was serious as he asked her again, "Fraulein Detective, there is a _reason _you came all this way to meet me this morning, ja?"

Klavier watched as Ema fidgeted under his unfaltering stare. After a few nervous glances at her oversized purse, she finally muttered, "I have something important to tell you."

"And what would that be?"

A moment of silence passed.

"Well-?"

"I'm trying to remember!" She snapped.

Klavier quietly sighed, as he was now used to being reprimanded for no particular reason. He had quickly learned that the best way to avoid Ema's overactive temper was to stay silent, as most things that came out of his mouth had a tendency to anger her.

By the time they reached the eleventh floor, Ema still had not yet given him an answer and Klavier had simply given up trying to figure out what was going through her unpredictable mind. Leading the two of them towards the large receptionist desk, the prosecutor was greeted with the rich aroma of his favourite blend of coffee and the beautiful smile of his beautiful secretary.

"Ahhh~! Smells divine! It's very thoughtful of you to have brought me breakfast, Fraulein."

His secretray handed the coffee to him with a sheepish grin, "Actually, sir, it was Miss Skye who brought this in earlier this morning."

"Fraulein Detective?!" He turned around to find Ema glaring down the honest woman. "What have I done to earn your kindness?"

His sceptical expression was rewarded with another sharp retort, "That's rude of you. Is it so hard to imagine me doing something nice?"

The honest answer would have been, "Yes", but Klavier wisely kept that to himself. Instead, he chose to politely thank her and proceeded to move into his office.

Though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he was now absolutely sure something was out of place. The first piece of evidence was the unexplained change in their usual routine: why hadn't the detective simply met up with him at the courthouse, as per always? The second piece of evidence was the coffee he was currently holding in his hand: in all the year and half they had been working together, she had _never_ bought _anything_ for him; even during their numerous long all-nighters, the stingy detective had refused to buy an extra coffee for him, forcing Klavier to find his own sources of caffeine. And now, all he needed was one more key piece…

"Why don't you wait outside, Fraulein Detective; I'll just be one minute." Klavier made sure his tone was casual as he tested his hypothesis.

As he had predicted, Ema mumbled some incomprehensible excuse about needing to check something before she pushed past him into his office.

All his previous suspicions had been confirmed; Ema Skye was now entering what she called his "twilight zone of an office" of her own accord; there must be something seriously wrong.

"You know, you're acting a little strange today. Is something the matter, Ema?" He purposely addressed the detective by her first name, hoping it would encourage more open communication between them. After working with her for over a year, Klavier had grown trust and depend on the young woman before him and he'd naturally assumed the feeling was mutual.

Klavier patiently watched from his door as Ema stood next to his large cluttered desk, her gaze nervously darted around the room. After grabbing a few thick manila folders off his desk, she strode towards him with a strained smile on her face.

"It's nothing. I've got the case files. Let's go."

Disappointed, the young prosecutor frowned – it appeared he had assumed wrongly.

Reaching an arm out, Klavier blocked his colleague from exiting his office. "I may not be as skilled as Herr Forehead when it comes to detecting false statements, but even I can tell when one blatantly lies to my face." He spoke in a deep, even voice.

Anxiety was clear in her eyes with as Ema stuttered, "Y-you're imagining things. We're going to be late, Prosecutor Gavin."

Then quickly ducking under his arm, she darted down the hall. Releasing a defeated sigh, Klavier could only follow.

What could have happened to force his Fraulein Detective to lie to him? He tried to formulate some possible explanations: she had probably made a mistake and was trying to make it up to him; or perhaps she had been conspiring with their opposition again; or maybe, just maybe, she had discovered another irrational reason to hate him and was simply choosing to act on it at the most inopportune time. Regardless, Klavier dropped the matter entirely and they descended the elevator in silence.

When they finally approached the ground floor, the doors slid open, but Ema made no move to exit. Instead, she clenched the folders until her knuckles were white while staring at the floor. When Klavier stepped forward to hold the doors open for her, she abruptly blurted out, "Can I hitch a ride with you?"

Klavier's first instinct was to laugh, "I think I must've misheard you, Fraulein Detective, because I believe you just asked for a ride on my hog."

But the solemn look on Ema's face grounded his chuckles to a halt.

"Is that really what you said?"

The detective nodded.

"I don't understand," Klavier said in confusion, "You have stated many times that you hate my hog, ja?"

The detective nodded again.

"Then… why?"

It sounded as if Ema was gritting her teeth when she replied, "I'd like to try it out."

Partially to satisfy his sadistic sense of curiosity and partially to avoid another pointless argument, Klavier graciously allowed her to ride with him without further questioning. Twenty minutes later, parked behind the courthouse, Klavier was somewhat regretting his decision while he attempted to pry himself out of the vice-grip of a terrified Ema Skye.

"I assure you, Fraulein Detective, we have stopped moving for a while now."

"Then why can I still feel an intense G-force."

Awkwardly piggybacking Ema off his bike, Klavier resisted the urge to drop his dead weight onto the asphalt pavement to show her some real G-force. Instead, he chose to lower her down onto the nearby lawn, allowing the young woman to reacquaint herself with solid ground.

"Did you enjoy the ride?"

"No." It was a blunt automatic response. Once Ema was standing on wobby legs, she immediately pushed him towards the building entrance, "Hurry up. I think I need to sit down."

Much to his relief, once she had settled herself in the prosecutor's lobby, Ema's crazy antics had finally died down and she simply sat in silence, reviewing her testimony.

Finally, after pacing had lost its appeal, Klavier decided he needed a change of scenery.

Ema's voice drifted towards him, "Where are you going?"

"To the toilet," he answered honestly.

There was the sound of shuffling papers behind him, before Ema appeared by his side. "I'll go with you."

On any other day, it would've been a perfect opening for one of Klavier's bolder flirtatious remarks, but after all the prior bizarre events, he could only stare at her bewilderment.

"I meant, I'll also go to the washroom – the female washroom," she clarified, as she hurriedly followed him out the door.

They had only taken two steps before Klavier said, "Fraulein Detective, I believe the women's toilets are in the opposite direction."

"Are you sure? I always remember them to be this way."

The indifferent prosecutor had already long since stopped trying to correct Ema's illogical comments. With less than fifteen minutes until the start of his trial, he simply hoped that whatever had caused her loss of sanity wasn't contagious.

Arriving at the men's washroom, Klavier gave the peculiar woman a quick glance before entering. When he stepped back into the hallway a few minutes later, he found Ema examining the men's washroom sign next to the door with a magnifying glass.

"Were you waiting here for me?"

"N-no," she stammered as the comically large object disappeared back into her purse, "I've just never noticed how inaccurate the proportions of this male figure is."

"Fraulein Detective, I believe that is what we call a "stick person" diagram." With a weary look, the young prosecutor tried to discreetly keep his distance and he stepped around the odd detective.

Just he started to walk back towards the prosecutor's lobby, he felt Ema grab his arm as she roughly threw him to the ground. Simultaneously, there was a loud bang and something whizzed by above him. Before he even had time to react, Klavier found himself sprawled out on floor with his face planted on the cold laminate flooring. When he tried to lift his head up, it was unceremoniously shoved back down so that his forehead maintained constant contact with the ground. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a dog barking, then two more loud bangs followed by an earth-shattering shriek. Within a moment, the pressure on the back of his head was lifted and he could faintly hear Ema yelling over the painful screams that continued.

Ignoring the throbbing pain where his forehead had hit the ground, Klavier Gavin lifted his head to find the most perplexing scene he had ever witnessed. The source of the screaming was a young man, probably only a few years older than Klavier himself, who was writhing on the floor holding onto his knee. His hands were covered in red. Next to the man stood a full grown Shiba Inu, loudly growling and barking. Just when the dog looked ready to bite, Klavier heard a firm command originate from above him.

"Down, Missile, down!"

Slowly turning his head, Klavier found himself staring up at an armed and alert Ema Skye. The usually clumsy and somewhat scatter-minded young woman had a fierce look in her eyes as she steadily aimed the small black pistol in her hand straight at the man on the floor. There was no fear in her voice when she ordered him to remain on the ground. When she cautiously started to move towards him, there was an authoritative air about her.

Klavier watched as Ema calmly kicked away the discarded handgun on the floor without so much as flinching at the malicious words the man directed at her. After confirming that the injured individual on the floor had no additional weapons, she swiftly returned to Klavier's side.

"Prosecutor Gavin, are you alright?"

Ema's stiff tone sounded foreign to the confused prosecutor. The professionally trained officer now helping him off the floor was the same individual who would, on a regular basis, carelessly skim through her reports, misuse and abuse police issued equipment and inappropriately examine evidence using unapproved methods. He could only stare at her in stunned silence. As hard as he tried to answer, his mind was still incapable of forming a coherent answer, though he had a vague feeling that his mouth was hanging open.

"Klavier! Klavier, don't worry, okay?! The rest of the squad is coming. They're going to take care of you, okay? So, don't worry, Klavier, you'll be fine…"

Just as Ema promised, a large number of uniform men came rushing towards them within seconds. He watched in awe as she gave clear and concise instructions to each of the officers that arrived on scene. There was no hesitation; each order was given with a confidence he wasn't aware she possessed. The earlier panic in her voice had all but disappeared, leaving her with a crisp, commanding tone of voice. The transformation from the jittery detective earlier that morning to the self-assured professional standing above him was alarming – frightful even.

Despite all the chaos surrounding him, Klavier Gavin found himself completely and utterly turned on.

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
[2009.07.30] **Part II coming soon. Just waiting for Court-Records to start working for me again so I can confirm a few details. This piece is actually my first attempt at writing something more plot oriented than character oriented. I purposely tried to write in such a way that Klavier and Ema's reactions would seem kind of over the top - kind of more like their reactions in the video game, rather than something more normal, like in real life. But, my attempts to write concisely makes this story feel kind of bare and lacking... so I'm kind of unsure how to fix this. Hmmmm... any advice/comments/opinions would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Part II

He had been given a scratchy blanket and a cup of hot tea before the police personnel quite literally, though very politely, locked him into the prosecutor's lobby. When he asked to know what was going on, the officer simply assured him that they were taking care of everything and for him to relax. He was given that same answer regardless of the question he asked.

It wasn't until almost an hour later that a familiar voice floated into the room.

"How is he? … Are there any injuries? … Yes, I'm well aware of his demanding attitude…"

With his patience all worn out, Prosecutor Klavier Gavin started to bash at the door with his fists. "Fraulein, is that you? Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?!"

The door was immediately thrown open revealing a furious Detective Ema Skye, "Can't you just shut up and take orders like any other civilian?"

Ignoring her question, he promptly asked his own, "What on earth is going on, Fraulein Detective? Why am I locked in this room surrounded by the police? And the trial started–"

Ema curtly cut him off, "The trial's been postponed already – the date will be decided after this chaos dies down."

"What? I don't understand. Why is the trial postponed? What's happening right now?"

"Calm down, Klavier." She gently led him back to the couch he had been sitting on earlier and calmly took a seat next to him, explaining the situation, "I've just been told by Gumshoe that the Chief is apparently having a mild anxiety attack back at the precinct, so if I don't report back in the next ten minutes, they're going to press charges against me for attempted murder. Unfortunately, that leaves me no time to tell you the full story, but I'll try my best to answer all your questions.

"About two weeks ago, we received some intelligence reports that you were being targeted. The exact details were kind of vague, and I didn't really read the entire thing, but the gist of it was that the Cadaverinis aren't pleased that we've got the big boss's nephew on trial today.

"Three days ago, we got word that one of the Cadaverinis we caught a few years back escaped from his half-way house; turns out the escapee is the older brother of today's defendant. Then yesterday, we got a tip off that the big bro was spotted around the court house area, so we put two and two together and figured that he'd probably come after you sometime before the trial – you know, to save his baby brother and all.

"This now leads us to our problem: we wanted to catch the escapee, but if Cadaverinis caught wind of the fact that we'd already anticipated their plans, then the big bro would probably go back into hiding. So, we needed to find a way to protect you without it appearing obvious. Naturally, I was the one chosen to guard you.

"I tried to do everything I could today in order to minimize opportunities for you to get attacked: waiting for your arrival, bringing you breakfast, accompanying you to the courthouse –"

"Following me to the washroom?" Klavier added helpfully.

Ema frowned at his interruption, "Yes, and you should be glad I did. Do you realize how close you were to being shot?!"

He took a deep breath in an attempt to help digest all the information. "To be quite honest, I am still finding this all a bit much to swallow."

"You need to have more awareness of yourself as a high profile prosecutor," Ema scolded him harshly, "I warned you before, didn't I? After we put one of them away, did you think they were just going to step aside and let you get a second? The Cadaverinis are a dangerous bunch and as you saw today, they'll use any means possible to stop a trial – including killing off the prosecutor."

Klavier waved off her lecture, "Nein, nein. I am well aware of the dangers that come with my job; Herr Chief informed me about the Cadaverinis' vengeance prior to when I accepted this case. However, what I am more surprised about is _your_ involvement in all of this."

"Excuse me?"

He continued coolly, "Fraulein Detective, last week alone, you tripped over our homicide victim, accidently sprayed Luminol into a witness's face and sent an entire investigative team to Poison Control after they mistook your spilt fingerprinting powder for icing sugar on the Chief's birthday cake. Forgive my frankness, but I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you are capable of wielding a real weapon, let alone using one to immobilize an assassin."

"H-hey!" Ema cried out indignantly, "I admit that I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes, but I'll have you know I have the best hit ratio in my entire department!"

Somehow, Klavier didn't find himself doubting her claim; after experiencing first hand her deadly accurate aim with those snack foods of hers, imagining the detective nailing bull's-eyes with a gun didn't seem that implausible.

"I didn't earn my badge by sitting in a lab and eating Snackoos all day, you know!" She grumbled, obviously insulted by his disbelief.

"My apologies, Fraulein. It's just that with all your complaints about your endless investigations, I wasn't aware you did anything else but."

"Of course." Suddenly her voice became hoarse and devoid of its prior zeal, "Of course I wouldn't expect you to know _anything _about what the police do. You stroll through crime scenes at your leisure; you spend more time with your guitar than your witnesses; then you have the nerve to strut into the court room as if you're some one-man show. Do you have any idea how much work we put into every one of your cases?" There was now another emotion mixed in with the anger on her face, one that Klavier had never seen her express before.

"I did not mean to offend–"

"Of course, you offended!" He noticed the moisture in her eyes as her voice steadily gained volume, "When a glimmerous fop who _moonlights_ as a prosecutor starts doubting _my_ commitment to my job, of course I'd be offended. I take my all duties as a detective very seriously, including my duty to protect you!"

The truth of her words floored him. In all his years as a prosecutor, he had never once given the job of the police a second thought. It just became accepted that the police dealt with all the messy business and when the time came, he'd do all the talking. In hindsight, he was completely taking their aid for granted. All the times Ema complained about her never ending workload, he had assumed she was simply wasting all her time on less important matters, never considering that the detective had other law enforcement duties to attend to. It was a horrible oversight, really. Klavier was so disappointed by his own ignorance that he could only mutter a meek apology when Ema turned away from him and took a few deep, ragged breaths.

When her breathing slowed to normal, she stiffly stood up without looking at him. "If you'll excuse me, _Prosecutor Gavin_, I have other duties that require my immediate attention. Someone will be along shortly to escort you to the precinct for your witness's statement." Klavier noticed the cold contempt in the way she spoke his name. Without giving him a second glance, Ema made her way to the exit, each step lacking the confidence she had earlier carried so naturally. She had already opened the door before Klavier finally found his voice again.

"For what its worth, Ema, I think you're a very dedicated detective. None of my court victories would have been possible if it weren't for all your efforts. And I surely would not be sitting here _alive_ right now. I…" He paused trying to find the right words without sounding like a bad love confession, "… I trust you. As a colleague and as a friend, I trust you."

For Klavier, that was the highest form of compliment he could give and he must have somehow adequately conveyed that because Ema had froze mid-step at the doorway. After a silent pause, she turned back to him with a guilt-ridden look as she forced her eyes to meet his.

"Klavier, I know I lied to you today. I lied to you multiple times in order to carry out the plan. And I know there's no excuse for betraying your trust, but I really am sorry."

Klavier couldn't help but smile at her earnest apology.

"There's nothing to apologize for. You saved my life today – I've been betrayed for less." There was a painful stab in his chest as he remembered his most trusted companions, each being police escorted out of the court room in hand cuffs.

Then with a sheepish look at the swelling on his forehead, Ema quickly added, "I'm also sorry for handling you so roughly earlier. I'll get you some ice for that." She immediately called out to the officer at the door, who gave a curt nod and disappeared from sight.

In response, Klavier's usual charming smile returned, "Ahhh~! No need to fret, Fraulein. I actually like it when you're rough."

An ice-pack was promptly hurled at his face at an alarming speed.

* * *

**Author's Notes  
****[2009.08.01] **And that is the end of this odd little two-shot. Hahaha~ this half isn't funny or exciting - what a change! I planned on making it a light-hearted explanation, but then I remembered the real reason why I wrote this ficlet. Though this is purely my own speculation/imagination, I wanted to show how Ema not only leads investigations, but she can also hold her own in dangerous action-sequences. I feel like this would be a side of Ema that Klavier never gets to see... and so I wanted to try to show how he'd react to it... and VOILA! You get a not so humorous/adventurous story! Anyhow, please let me know how you enjoyed the progression and dialogue of Part II. Have a great weekend!


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